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Hockey
By S. Thyagarajan
Amidst such feverish speculation comes the Asia Cup final on Sunday. Quite predictably, fathoming what is in store is a fascinating exercise. An India-Pakistan contest cannot simply be assessed on statistics as the results in the last five matches this year have demonstrated. So far, the trend has been a win for India first and defeat in the second.
In this current competition, Pakistan prevailed over India by four goals to two on Wednesday when the teams were in a must-win situation. India could have held the advantage of requiring only a draw if it had scored one goal more than the 10 it obtained against Bangladesh. So, it is the pressure situations that invariably bring the best out of Pakistan, though off late India is not lagging far behind in recovering from difficult situations.
While the coaches, India's Rajinder Singh and Pakistan's Tahir Zaman, expressed cautious optimism over the outcome, both are aware of the stakes involved. For Pakistan, it is the best moment to regain the trophy it won last in 1989 in New Delhi, while for India it is close to the culmination of a dream to etch the name on the trophy for the first time.
More than the trophy, what will be more significant for the victorious team is the automatic berth for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Actually, this should serve as the motivating factor for the teams. Since that spectacular performance in the Champions Trophy at Cologne last year, India has taken on Pakistan with a palpable measure of assurance. Even on Wednesday, India created more chances to score, but eventually figured on the wrong side. India's better balance between defence and attack is striking. The frontline, when it functions in symmetry, generates a good measure of flair, fluency and finesse. But the inhibiting factor has been the unpredictable finish. A lot therefore depends on how effective the trio of Deepak Thakur, Gagan Ajit Singh and Prabhjot Singh, turns out to be, taking the sustained support from the veterans Dhanraj Pillay and Baljit Singh Dhillon. It is a pity that a lad as talented and skilful as Sandeep Micheal is left to languish in the shadows, gaining only brief appearances that have given him enough time to proclaim his class and calibre. Both against Pakistan on Wednesday and against South Korea on Friday, Sandeep Micheal, contributed immensely. Coach Rajinder Singh defended Sandeep's brief deployment as a tactic to preserve him for the next decade. This logic does not appeal to many. The mid-field has been hard working with Ignace Tirkey in splendid nick along with Bimal Lakra. The seasoned Saini lends the line a definite chunk of experience and expertise, but Viren Resquinha and Vikram Pillay have tended to be wobbly under pressure forcing the load more on Dilip Tirkey and Kanwalpreet Singh. Goal-keeper Devesh Chauhan did not inspire much confidence in the first encounter on Wednesday and showed only a marginal improvement against Korea. He must be at his best against the lethal penalty corner hits by Sohail Abbas. For some strange reason, Pakistan's attack shows more signs of individualism rather than as a combined force of pace and precision it used to be. Everything centres around the gangling Tashif Jawaad with the rest merely contributing to creating space for this striker. Rehan Bhatt, the usually opportunistic striker, has not been conspicuous so far but he can be dangerous. Shabbir Hussain and Gazanfar Ali are more prominent. The real strength lies in the mid-field where both Mohammad Saqlain and Wassem Ahmed are a class apart. Both are extremely proficient, and their defence splitting forward passes are pieces of exqusite craftmanship. Indisputably, the trump card is Sohail Abbas. In one stroke, this gifted defender can transform the outcome, even as late as the 70th minute. To contain this incomparable drag flicker is the game plan for any team in contemporary hockey. The Indian think-tank has very few options other than cautioning the defence to minimise errors and deny Pakistan the penalty corners as much as possible. In the first meeting Pakistan had to wait for over 25 minutes in the second half for the first penalty corner. In whatever way things are balanced India needs to be far more disciplined to conquer a strong, determined and motivated opponent and script history and dedicate the trophy to Jugraj Singh, recovering from the injuries sustained in a car crash.
Hong Kong gets
seventh spot
Chua Boon Huat scored the match winner seconds before the hooter from a penalty corner push by Kuhen Shanmuganathan to ensure the fifth spot for Malaysia against China. Malaysia won by the odd goal in five. Nishel Kumar and Tajol Roslie were the other scorers for Malaysia, while Song Yi and Yu Yang netted in style for China. A penalty stroke by Arif Ali, three minutes before the hooter, gave Hong Kong a 4-3 win against Bangladesh in the match to determine seventh and eighth places. Sunday's matches: (3-4): Japan v Korea (3 p.m.); Final: India vs Pakistan (5-30 p.m. IST)
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